Mark Pope was hired as head men’s basketball coach at BYU on April 10, 2019. He is the 19th head men’s basketball coach since the Cougars’ inaugural season in 1902-03. Pope came to Provo after serving as head coach at Utah Valley University for the previous four seasons.

“We are excited to announce Mark as our new head men’s basketball coach and welcome him and his family back to BYU,” BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe said of Pope’s hiring. “Mark is an outstanding leader and coach. He is also an exceptional recruiter, who recognizes BYU’s unique opportunities for success. We look forward to having him build on the great tradition of BYU basketball.”

Pope’s coaching career has included stints as an assistant coach at Georgia, Wake Forest and BYU before he was named the head coach at Utah Valley. As a player, Pope helped Kentucky win the 1996 NCAA National Title before enjoying a professional career that included stints in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets.

“I’d like to thank the BYU administration,” Pope said at his introductory press conference. “It’s been an unbelievable opportunity for me to go through this process and see the vision. This place is like nowhere else. It’s such an honor and privilege to be the head basketball coach at BYU. There’s a standard of excellence on this campus and with this program. Those high expectations are one of the things that excites me the most about being here.”

In four years at Utah Valley, Pope’s Wolverine teams made improvements each season, going from 12 wins in 2015-16 to 25 victories in 2018-19. He also led Utah Valley to three-straight postseason appearances (2017, 2018, 2019) and back-to-back 20-win seasons (2017-18, 2018-19)—both are Wolverine records.

The 2018-19 season was highlighted by a program-record 25 wins and an 11-4 non-conference record, the best non-league record in UVU history. His team finished 14-1 at home and owned a 22-game home win streak — also a Wolverine record and the second-longest streak in the country at the time. In addition to the team success, Pope coached the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

Pope’s 2017-18 campaign finished with a 23-11 record, including the best home mark in school history of 16-1. The season began with what was known as the #Toughest24 as Pope and the Wolverines opened on the road at No. 4 Kentucky and No. 1 Duke on consecutive nights. That season ended with a trip to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational.

In 2016-17, Pope led Utah Valley to 17 wins and a trip to the CBI. The Wolverines won a pair of road games — the school’s first-ever postseason victories — to reach the semifinals of the CBI.

While on Dave Rose’s staff at BYU from 2011-15, Pope helped the Cougars to four-straight 20-win seasons and four-straight postseason appearances – including three bids to the NCAA Tournament and trip to the semifinals of the 2013 NIT. Prior to coaching at BYU, Pope was director of basketball operations for Mark Fox at Georgia in 2009-10 and an assistant under Jeff Bzdelik at Wake Forest in 2010-11.

A 6-foot-10 post player, Pope helped Kentucky claim the 1996 NCAA National Championship and enjoyed a nine-year professional career that included seven seasons in the NBA and two in Turkey. Pope was drafted in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Following the draft, Pope played his first season as a professional in Turkey for Efes Pilsen. He then played two seasons for the Indiana Pacers under head coach Larry Bird and helped the Pacers to the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals.

In 1999-00, Pope split time between the La Crosse Bobcats of the CBA and Ulkerspor in Turkey. He returned to the NBA the next season, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks under head coach George Karl. In 2000-01, he started 45 games and helped the Bucks reach the Eastern Conference Finals. After two seasons with the Bucks, Pope spent the 2002-03 season on injured reserve with the New York Knicks. He concluded his NBA career playing two seasons with the Denver Nuggets from 2003-05.

Pope began his collegiate career playing at Washington. As a freshman in 1991-92, he earned Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors after setting a Washington freshman single-season record with 8.1 rebounds per game. He earned All-Academic honors from the Pac-10 as a sophomore in 1992-93.

Following his sophomore season, Pope transferred to Kentucky where he played for Rick Pitino. After redshirting in 1993-94, Pope helped the Wildcats win back-to-back SEC titles, advance to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1995 and win the NCAA National Championship in 1996. He averaged 7.6 points and 5.2 rebounds and was a team captain during Kentucky's championship season. Pope earned Academic All-SEC honors in 1995 and graduated from Kentucky with a degree in English in 1996.

Before joining the basketball staff at Georgia, Pope completed two years of medical school at Columbia University in New York. He did much of his pre-med course work while playing in the NBA. Pope and his wife Lee Anne have four daughters: Ella, Avery, Layla and Shay. Lee Anne worked at ESPN before serving as David Letterman's personal assistant for four years.

Utah’s 21st Attorney General

In 2013, at the age of 42, the Honorable Sean Reyes was appointed by Governor Gary Herbert as Utah’s 21st Attorney General. Reyes took over an office racked with scandal and inefficiency in the midst of some of the most significant constitutional issues in state history. Within a year, he reorganized and re-energized the office internally and recaptured the trust of the State with striking leadership, innovative programs and historic wins against drug dealers, human traffickers, child predators, and white-collar criminals. After winning the election in 2014 by one of the largest margins nationwide, Reyes was selected in 2015 by the Republican National Committee as one of its four national rising stars.

After graduating summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1994, Reyes earned his law degree with honors from U.C. Berkeley in 1997. He practiced for nearly fourteen years at Parsons Behle & Latimer, the largest law firm in the State, where he became one of the first minority lawyers to make partner at a major Utah firm. While there, Reyes represented clients on some of the largest and most high profile litigation cases in the history of the State. He argued or briefed cases before state and federal courts throughout the country, including the Utah Supreme Court and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has been honored nationally and locally with a long list of awards for his legal skills, leadership and unparalleled commitment to public service and has founded and served multiple non-profit organizations.

The son of a Spanish-Filipino immigrant father, who fled the Marcos regime and a Japanese-Hawaiian mother, AG Reyes is Utah’s first minority elected statewide. AG Reyes and his wife, Saysha, are the proud parents of 6 children. He is a former collegiate volleyball player and mixed martial arts fighter who enjoys speaking at Comic Cons, playing basketball, coaching his kids, dancing with Saysha, watching Sports Center, cooking, shooting guns and rapping on Bloomberg News.

Jeff Bednar (PhD, University of Michigan) is an Assistant Professor in the Organizational Leadership and Strategy Department at Brigham Young University. His research focuses on how individuals and collectives construct and maintain their identities, and how they respond to various identity challenges. His research has been published in various books and journals including the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, and Organization Science. Jeff also teaches courses related to organizational behavior and works with organizations and executives wrestling with issues related to their identity and culture.

Education

PhD, Management and Organizations, University of Michigan, 2013

B.S., Accounting, Brigham Young University, 2007

MAcc, Accounting, Brigham Young University, 2007

Selected Publications

"Putting identification in motion: A dynamic view of organizational identification", Organizational Science, 2019.

"The impact of leader moral humility on follower moral self-efficacy and behavior", Journal of Applied Psychology, 2019.

"Status and the true believer: The impact of psychological contracts on social status attributions of friendship and influence", Edition 1, Volume 25, Issue 1, Pages 73-92, Organization Science, 2014.

"Africa, the Informal Economy, and the Hermeneutic Circle", Research Methodology in Strategy and Management (RMSM): Volume 9: Advancing Strategic Management in the African Context: Techniques, Methods, and Designs for Research Methodology in Strategy and Management, Volume 10, Pages 133-166, Emerald, Boston, Amsterdam, 2014.

"What Clients Don't Get about My Profession: A Model of Perceived Role-Based Image Discrepancies", Academy of Management Journal, 2013.

"Pathways for Positive Identity Construction at Work: Four Types of Positive Identity and the Building of Social Resources", Academy of Management Review, 2010.

Awards

Outstanding Teacher Award, Department of Management, 2018

Outstanding Teacher Award, OBHR Group/OLS Department, 2015

Barry Rellaford is a globally sought-after leadership development expert, with over 30 years of experience as a coach, facilitator and leader in multiple organizations. He has a gift of presenting complex content in an understandable, engaging, and actionable way. He has taught trust and leadership to people from over one hundred countries.

His coaching experience spans a broad range of companies and industries. He has coached executives at the highest levels, including CEO, President, SVP, VP, and Director. His audiences and clients include organizations such as Kroger, P&G, Hyster-Yale Group, Microsoft, Verizon, Pfizer, the LEGO Group, and the U.S. Army.

Working closely with Stephen M. R. Covey, Barry had a hand in developing the ‘Leading at the Speed of Trust’ training program, along with the organizational and individual assessments associated with the Speed of Trust™.

Barry’s specific areas of expertise include:

Establishing and growing high trust relationships with stakeholders

Strengthening your credibility

Maturing your leadership team

Identifying and living your purpose and values

Understanding and leveraging your strengths

Leading and contributing to senior leadership teams

Increasing your leadership credibility in a staff function

Business Experience

Before co-founding The Speed of Trust Practice, Barry led FranklinCovey’s Learning Expedition Center, the company’s internal corporate university focused on developing FranklinCovey salespeople and consultants. Before joining FranklinCovey, he also served as the Vice President of Organizational Development for Metatec Corporation and as a performance consultant at CompuServe, Inc.

Education and Certifications

Barry has a Master’s degree in Labor and Human Resources from the Ohio State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Brigham Young University. He is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and is also certified in tQ (Trust Quotient) 360 instrument, Inventure Group coaching tools, the 7 Habits Profile, and 3 Vital Questions/Power of TED*.

As an Air Force pilot and officer, I fell in love with flying. More importantly, however, I fell in love with leadership, with helping others determine their own course in life and make that match with those around them in a meaningful way. The Air Force taught me how to problem solve, how to make do with what I have, and to enjoy wherever I was. I’ve managed multi-billion dollar programs, commanded some fantastic organizations, but also handled many an unglamorous job, learning to enjoy them all in some way. My life goal is to help individuals and organizations ensure their vector matches what they see as their victory.

A 1991 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, I had the honor of serving for nearly twenty five years in nearly every state and on six continents as a pilot, officer, commander, and observer of some heroic people both in and out of the military. I’ve commanded small units (four people), combat deployed units (the 75th Fighter Squadron), and relatively large units (the 450 personnel and four squadrons, two airfields and two training ranges) of the 23rd Fighter Group.

In addition to being part of six operational, combat-coded organizations, I spend two years in the Pentagon where I learned how to write concisely, speak clearly, and save passion for the things that really mattered to the Air Force and our nation. Additionally, I spent two years at Nellis Air Force Base operating the world’s busiest military training airfield and managing the Air Force’s premier training programs.

I was blessed with some great leaders, some not so great leaders, and some amazing co-workers and opportunities that helped me figure out who I was, where I fit, and what really matters. I’ve flown fifteen different types of aircraft and over forty-six hundred hours as a pilot, most of it military flight time, mainly in the A-10A/C, C-130E and C-17A.

Since leaving the Air Force, I’ve been able to learn more about the business world, and spend time with my family that I missed for nearly twenty five years.

I offer organizational consulting, ‘vector checks’ for individuals and organizations, leadership consulting, and problem solving. I do this in the form of one on one sessions, group off-sites and team discussions, and program management consulting. Schools are given a higher priority.

Gen Oaks entered Active Duty in the United States Air Force on 6 June 1959 as a 2nd Lt., via a commission through the United States Air Force Academy. He retired from Active Duty on 1 September 1994 at the rank of General.

While serving in the position as Commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe, he was involved in dropping relief pallets to beleaguered Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina and actually flew on a number of those missions.

General Oaks was awarded the Order of the Sword, which is the highest honor bestowed by the enlisted force, while he was the Commander of Air Training Command.

While at Air Training Command, General Oaks was involved in the search of a new training aircraft to replace the T-37 trainer. He flew in numerous different aircraft as the command searched for a replacement trainer as well as a new multi-engine trainer.

General Oaks received the Distinguished Flying Cross for one of the missions he flew over Vietnam, where he led a flight of F-100Ds that dropped bombs on attacking Viet Cong and saved a Green Beret outpost from being overrun by enemy forces. He also attended the U.S. Naval War College and in 1967 received an MBA degree in personnel management from Ohio State University.

Elder Oaks was awarded the distinguished flying cross for his Vietnam service and two distinguished service medals. He is also the recipi­ent of the Brigham Young University Alumni Achievement Award and the United States Air Force Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award.

Elder Robert C. Oaks was sustained as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy in April 2000. At the time of his call he was president of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania North Stake. He served as a counselor and as president of the Africa Southeast Area and as a counselor in the Utah North Area. In October 2004 he was sustained as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and served until October of 2009.

Elder Oaks has served as Sunday School teacher, Young Men president, district president’s counselor, bishop’s counselor, mission president’s coun­selor, and stake missionary. He has been a Gospel Doctrine teacher 11 times.

Robert C. Oaks and his wife, Gloria Mae Unger, are the parents of six children.